Friday, December 26, 2014

Top Dozen Church-State and Religious Liberty Developments In 2014

Each year in December, I attempt to highlight the most important Church-State and Religious Liberty Developments of the past year. Usually I identify the top ten stories. This year however was so full of important developments that I have had to increase my nominations to the Top Dozen. As always, I invite reader feedback on my selections and omissions. Here they are:

3. Religiously-affiliated schools, hospitals and charities continue to object that administrative accommodations to the Affordable Care Act contraceptive coverage mandate are insufficient to protect their religious liberty rights. Dozens of cases are in litigation over the issue.

4. In Town of Greece case, Supreme Court upholds non-coercive sectarian invocations at city council meetings.

5. The increasing strength of ISIS in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere threatens religious minorities in the Middle East and revives dream of a Caliphate.

Earlier this month Religion Newswriters Association released their list of the Top 10 Religion Stories in 2014. (They too selected 12 stories, finding ties in two instances.) UPDATE: Also see the year's top picks from Don Byrd at Blog From the Capital.